Social Worker (Corporate Parenting)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO1 - PO4 £39,855 - £50,574
Retention Bonus: £3000

Contract Type: Full Time/Permanent
Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 31/03/2025

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC
Reference:1567

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

About the role:

Waltham Forest's Children's Service has big ambitions for the future - and is a place where you can realise yours. If you are a dedicated and creative social worker looking to make your mark in working with children in care, develop your career and improve the lives of children and their families, our forward-thinking Families Directorate should be your next career destination. We are a supportive, challenging and inspirational team, striving towards the shared purpose of achieving independence, choice and the best possible results for our service users. Join us and you will help us to become a centre of excellence and best practice, building on the strong foundations we have laid. In return for your hard work, we will give you the time and active support you need to make a difference. Promoting creativity is at the heart of our agenda to develop Social Work, and means you will be encouraged to share ideas, bring about positive change and strive to continuously improve outcomes for our vulnerable children. We would like applications from qualified and experienced candidates.

LBWF offers a retention bonus of £3,000 which is paid annually i.e. £1,500 paid in the salary for June and December. This bonus is subject to conditions.

Equal Opportunities

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

[Work directly with children in care and provide a clear and accurate assessment of the client's needs in line with statutory guidance, undertake visits and identify support, observations and gather information from the relevant agencies as directed by the Team Manager. Provide written and verbal reports, which are concise, informative and based on analysis of complex evidence]

[Manage the caseload as directed and organise and plan work activities prioritising tasks and responsibilities]

[No supervisory or leadership responsibilities]

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

[To apply, you should have at least 2 years' experience in a similar statutory role or be able to demonstrate transferable skills to meet the needs of this this post. You will need to have a current registration with Social Work England and provide your Registration Number. We anticipate that an applicant will have the following aptitudes and ability to demonstrate these:

• Knowledge and experience of issues relating to children in care, including relevant legislation, guidance & procedures
• Experience of service delivery which is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of a multi-cultural community
• Ability to work as a team member
• Ability to work under regular supervision from a line manager
• Ability to work effectively under pressure
• Ability to prioritise work and risks.
• Ability to ensure Performance Indicators relating to service areas are met
• Ability to participate in change effectively
• Ability to communicate clearly verbally and in writing, and to follow through required actions
• Commitment to the participation of vulnerable people and their families both at an individual and service level
• Detailed working knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and other relevant legislation, procedures and guidance relating to children and families
• Ability to demonstrate understanding of the financial implications for a Local Authority when commissioning care and support to meet needs and an awareness of how to consider other funding streams / means of meeting needs.
• Awareness of current issues in care and support policy and practice]

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

Satisfactory declaration of interest;

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

Satisfactory DBS check;

Continued professional body registration;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Madalina Chelaru, Team Manager at Madalina.chelaru@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.